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Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention
Author(s) -
Blackwell Lisa S.,
Trzesniewski Kali H.,
Dweck Carol Sorich
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x
Subject(s) - psychology , attribution , intervention (counseling) , developmental psychology , implicit personality theory , control (management) , longitudinal study , academic achievement , theory of mind , social psychology , cognition , personality , statistics , mathematics , management , neuroscience , psychiatry , economics
Two studies explored the role of implicit theories of intelligence in adolescents' mathematics achievement. In Study 1 with 373 7th graders, the belief that intelligence is malleable (incremental theory) predicted an upward trajectory in grades over the two years of junior high school, while a belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory) predicted a flat trajectory. A mediational model including learning goals, positive beliefs about effort, and causal attributions and strategies was tested. In Study 2, an intervention teaching an incremental theory to 7th graders ( N =48) promoted positive change in classroom motivation, compared with a control group ( N =43). Simultaneously, students in the control group displayed a continuing downward trajectory in grades, while this decline was reversed for students in the experimental group.